Early conservation creates more management options for landowners and
for the species. It also minimizes the cost of recovery and the
potential for restrictive land use policies that may be necessary in the
future. If we address the needs of the species before the laws come into
effect, there will be more flexibility in ways to stabilize or restore
species and their habitat. Additionally, as threats are reduced, the ESA
can focus on other species that might need more protective measures.

Below is information on the prairie species that are either currently
listed under the Endangered Species Act or are current candidates for
listing.

Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly

Taylor's checkerspot is a native butterfly that was once widespread
throughout prairies in association with golden paintbrush, a federally
listed threatened plant species. It is one of the darkest subspecies of
the Edith checkerspot butterfly and only produces one brood per year.
The butterfly is now listed as endangered under the federal Endangered
Species Act, and is also a state listed endangered species. In south
Puget Sound, this species survives at only two locations: one location
is where the butterfly naturally occurs, and the other location is a
former site where it has been reintroduced. Both lie within the south
Puget Sound prairie landscape.

Click
here for more information on Taylor’s checkerspot from Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Click
here for a description by the Butterfly Conservation Initiative
(external link).

Streaked horned lark

The Streaked horned lark is a small, long-winged bird with
distinctive black “horns,” which are actually feather tufts. A native
bird whose historical range once stretched from British Columbia to
southern Oregon, the Streaked horned lark is currently designated as
threatened by the USFWS. The total population of the lark is likely
less than one thousand, with roughly 300 living in Washington.

Click
here for more information from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Click
here for more information from Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife.

Mazama pocket gopher

The Mazama pocket gopher is a native mammal that is found in prairie
habitat. The pocket gopher stays mostly underground, where it combs for
plant roots with long, sharp claws. The tunnels it burrows help aerate
soil, and while its nests, its food stores and droppings add nutrients
to the soil to help aid plant growth. In the south Puget Sound area, two
of nine subpopulations of Mazama pocket gopher are believed to have
become extinct since the 1940s. Four subspecies found of the Mazama
pocket gopher found in Thurston and Pierce Counties are now federal
candidates for listing. The Mazama pocket gopher is designated as
threatened by the state.

In prairie ecosystems, pocket gopher activity is important in
maintaining plant species richness and diversity. Its habitat has been
reduced due to residential and commercial development, invasion of weedy
plants and trampling and crushing of burrows due to heavy equipment use.

For more information on the Mazama pocket gopher, visit the following
websites:

The Oregon spotted frog is named for the black dots that cover its
head, back, sides, and legs. The spots grow and change color as the
frog ages. The almost entirely aquatic amphibian lives in shallow waters
among the wetlands in Canada, Washington and Oregon, though its habitat
has shrunk to just a fraction of its historic range due to human
activity.

Oregon spotted frogs are integral to the food web of their wetland
habitats. Tadpoles keep waterways clean by feeding on plant tissue,
bacteria, algae, detritus, and carrion. Adults eat insects that can
transmit diseases to livestock, and are a resource to predators like
Sandhill cranes, herons, snakes and river otters.

For a complete list of species proposed for coverage under Thurston
County’s HCP, click
here (updated 11/19/2014). Many of these species are either already protected by the
State or the Federal government, or may be designated as threatened or
endangered in the near future.